UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting note, 11th December 2024
UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting, Wednesday 11th December 2024
Attendees
John Bowater Mike Earp Hedi Zaghouani
Mike Nash (Chair)
Updates on actions from November meeting
Requirements 3.2a/3.2b/3.3a/3.3b (Mandatory)
Implementing countries (ICs) are required to disclose timely production data, including production volumes and values by commodity. Data must be further disaggregated by project, where available.
ICs are required to disclose timely export data, including export volumes and the value by commodity and by exporting company.
Action: UK EITI Secretariat to arrange meeting of Mining & Quarrying (M&Q) subgroup to discuss the data required and if it is available or are there issues of commercial confidentiality, including a possible paper. Meeting of M&Q subgroup took place on Thursday 21st November. A number of actions were agreed, including an audit of the data that is currently available.
Requirement 7.1c (Encouragement)
iv. Summarise and compare the share of each revenue stream to the total amount of revenue that accrues to each respective level of government.
Action: It was agreed a quick win would be to update Table 2 of the UK EITI Payments Report for 2023 with the addition of overall percentage figures by each authority and revenue stream. BDO updated Table 1 of the UK EITI Payments Report for 2023 to reflect this. An updated version of the report was published on 29th November 2024.
Requirements 1.5b and 1.5c (Mandatory)
1.5c All work planning, monitoring and review activities must be informed by consultations with national stakeholders and documented in formats that are publicly available.
Action: UK EITI Secretariat to upload the latest version of the UK EITI Workplan onto the UK EITI website for stakeholder consultation for a period of 4 weeks. UK EITI Secretariat uploaded the latest version of the UK EITI Workplan onto the UK EITI website for stakeholder consultation for a period of 4 weeks covering 1-29 November 2024. No comments were received.
Revisit and assessment of the remaining “mostly met”/ “partly met” requirements
Requirement 1.5a
The MSG is required to undertake an annual progress review of the WP, which should inform the subsequent WP. The progress review must include:
i. Progress and challenges in achieving WP objectives; changes in those objectives; and how implementation will be adapted to better achieve those objectives.
ii. An overview of activities and outcomes achieved through EITI implementation.
iii. A description of the mechanisms for stakeholders to provide feedback on EITI implementation, as well as documentation of stakeholder views.
iv. Documentation on how the MSG has taken gender considerations and inclusiveness into account.
v. A report on actual expenses compared to the WP budget.
Agreed actions for 1.5a
To document how the MSG has taken gender considerations and inclusiveness into account a short survey of MSG representatives will be commissioned. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat and BDO).
Requirement 1.5b
All work planning, monitoring and review activities must be informed by consultations with national stakeholders and documented in formats that are publicly available.
Agreed actions for 1.5b
It was agreed that this requirement could be amended to Fully Met.
Requirement 2.5c
ICs are required to request, and companies are required to publicly disclose, BO information. This applies to corporate entity(ies) that apply for or hold a participating interest in an exploration or production oil, gas or mining license or contract and must include the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s); the level of ownership; and details about how ownership or control is exerted. The MSG must disclose any significant gaps or weaknesses in reporting on BO information, including any entities that failed to submit all or some BO information.
Agreed actions for 2.5c
Initial contact and discussions with Companies House regarding the possibility of expanding beneficial ownership disclosures. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Arrange a meeting in January with Mark Burnett to discuss this requirement in more detail. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Requirement 4.10a
ICs are required to disclose government policies and practices for monitoring oil, gas and mining project costs and managing revenue loss risks. This must include the disclosure of relevant laws, regulations and policies, as well as actions undertaken to monitor costs.
Agreed actions for 4.10a
Arrange a meeting in January with Mark Burnett to discuss this requirement in more detail. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Requirement 6.1c
The MSG is required to agree a procedure to address data quality and assurance of information on social and environmental expenditures, in accordance with Requirement 4.9.
Agreed actions for 6.1c
UK EITI Reconciliation subgroup to decide whether to continue to include these payments within scope of UK EITI reporting for 2024. (Action: UK EITI Reconciliation subgroup).
Requirement 6.3a
ICs are required to disclose information about the contribution of the extractive industries to the economy for the fiscal year covered by EITI implementation. This must include, where available:
Employment in the public and private sectors of the extractive industries in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total employment. The information must be disaggregated by gender and occupational level, where available, and further disaggregated by company and project, as well as between local and foreign nationals.
Agreed actions for 6.3a
Add a line that all employment within the extractives sector is private sector against each reference on the UK EITI website. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Arrange a meeting in January with Mark Burnett to discuss this requirement in more detail. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Requirement 6.4a
ICs are required to disclose an overview of relevant legal provisions and administrative rules governing environmental and social impact management and monitoring in the extractive sector. This must include information on rules regarding environmental permits and licenses, including social, gender and environmental impact assessments, as well as rehabilitation, decommissioning and closure programmes. It must also include information on the roles and responsibilities of relevant government agencies in implementing the rules and regulations.
Agreed actions for 6.4a
This requirement may not be applicable to the UK. Arrange a meeting in January with Mark Burnett to discuss this requirement in more detail. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Requirement 7.1a and 7.1b
7.1a The MSG is required to ensure that government and company disclosures are comprehensible, actively promoted, publicly accessible and contribute to public debate. Key audiences should include government, parliamentarians, civil society, companies and the media.
7.1b The MSG is required to:
i. Ensure that the information is widely accessible and distributed.
ii. Ensure that the information is comprehensible, including by ensuring that it is written in a clear, accessible style and in appropriate languages, and that it considers access challenges and information needs of different genders and subgroups of citizens.
iii. Ensure that engagement with stakeholders and outreach events (whether organised by government, civil society or companies) are undertaken to spread awareness of, and facilitate dialogue about, governance of extractive resources, building on EITI disclosures across the country in a socially inclusive manner.
Agreed actions for 7.1a and 7.1b
Compile list UK EITI promotional activities since 2021 from the previous Annual Progress reports and circulate to the subgroup. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).